The Leaky Dart
by CaptainS10
Summary: One-shot. A little deleted scene between Artemis and Holly in the first book.Holly wakes up in the car on the way to Fowl Manor, and Artemis has to find a way to subdue her again. Obviously, overpowering her won't work, even if she is weakened by the tranquilizer and drowsiness. Something drastic. It's not like she'll remember anyways...


**Okay, so, crazy one shot. This hit me out of nowhere, and so I typed it up without really thinking about it... Slightly AU-ish, and maybe a little OOC... Just a nice little scene between Arty and Holly. With a slight input from Butler, of course. ;) **

**Takes place in the first book, right after they kidnap Holly at the ritual site. **

When they returned to the car, Artemis opted to sit in the back and hold the duffel bag containing the hostage so it didn't roll onto the floor and hurt her. However, he was in a for a bit of a surprise when he did so.

About fifteen minutes into the ride, the creature started stirring. Artemis, feeling it move because of the bag's position on his lap, frowned. "Butler," he called to the manservant, who was up front in the driver's seat. "It's moving."

"It shouldn't be yet," Butler said, glancing behind him.

"I know. I was sure I measured the dosage perfectly..." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Perhaps there was something wrong with the dart you shot her with?"

"Maybe. I'll check when we get back, sir."

"Alright. I suppose if she wakes I'll have to find a way to subdue her." His eyes flicked down to the bag in his lap. "It shouldn't be too hard."

"I suppose. If you need me, though, just say so. I can hear you loud and clear."

"Yes, I know. In any case, however, I'm not sure it will be necessary... Please, just-"

Artemis cut off as a soft gasp issued in the air. He looked down again at the bag in his lap. It had definitely come from there; that meant the girl definitely was awake. Slowly, he reached for the zipper...

The first thing Holly Short was aware of was that she was alive.

Strange, she thought. I could have sworn I was shot by humans. Maybe it was a dream...

And then she opened her eyes and she became aware of the second thing: she was encased in some kind of.. sack, or something. And it was small, and constraining... and it made her claustrophobia kick in.

Now I know that wasn't a dream, Holly thought, letting a soft gasp escape her lips. Trembling, she reached up and carefully tried to brush a hand across the top of the bag... when suddenly it zipped open.

She jumped, her mouth opening to say something, although she wasn't sure just what yet. Help, maybe? Or perhaps just to scream.. she couldn't be positive her vocal cords would form an intelligent word yet. However, a hand clamped over her mouth before she could squeak a sound out.

"Don't scream," the same cold voice from before ordered. "Unless you want things to get very nasty, very quickly, don't move and don't scream. Understand?"

Holly's eyes widened, and she nodded. Artemis removed his hand from her mouth. "I-I.." Holly managed to croak, but her voice was low and weak, and she didn't feel like wasting energy on forcing it out, so she stopped there and tried to clear her throat. Artemis moved his head over hers and looked curiously into her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Artemis asked.

Holly shook her head and closed her eyes, clearing her throat again. What language was he speaking? Latin? No.. "W-what...?" she asked.

Artemis thought for a second, then switched to Gnommish. "You don't have to translate languages, you know," he told her. "I can speak Gnommish if that makes conversation easier."

"You speak Gnommish?" Holly asked weakly.

"Yes. Now, I ask again, is something wrong?"

"I just.. didn't know what language you spoke.. and my voice wasn't working."

"That would most likely be an effect of the tranquilizer in your system."

"Yeah..." She licked her lips once, looking around at the dark interior of the car and then the rest of her body that was still covered in the bag. "Uh... can you let me out of this?" She didn't bother trying to threaten him or anything again. For one, she had already seen the giant manservant in the front seat of the car. Secondly, she felt as weak and flimsy as a piece of paper and didn't like her chances if she had to fight - not to mention the fact she was only about half conscious with the tranquilizer still running in her system.

"No."

"Why not?"

Artemis sneered at her. "Do I look stupid to you? I'm not giving you the chance to escape."

"I-I won't try to escape, I just really hate being constrained in close spaces.." Holly looked around once and then back up the human, swallowing her pride for the moment as she asked, "p-please?"

Artemis's sneer grew. "Maybe you should have surrendered peacefully if you didn't want to be restrained. Then perhaps we wouldn't have had to knock you out and put you in that bag in the first place."

"What if I promised to go peacefully for the rest of the way?"

He was expecting that answer. "I can't believe you positively. Therefore, the answer is still no."

The next thing Holly did, she wasn't proud of. Or, at least, she wouldn't have be proud of had she been able to remember this whole incident later. She had to look away as her eyes welled up, and she started to struggle feebly in hopes of freeing at least her hands to wipe the tears away. However, Artemis's hand was still on the zipper, holding it, so it didn't budge as she struggled. The only thing she really managed to do was make a tear drip onto his hand, therefore making him catch her.

Artemis looked down at the elf again, shaking the tear away and grabbing her chin so he could study her face. "Are you crying?" he demanded softly.

"No." She tried to pull her chin from his grasp, but his grip was firm.

He shook his head, using his other hand to wipe off one of the tears from her cheeks. Then he held the drop of liquid up and inspected it. "Yes, I believe you are."

Holly scowled. "Fine, maybe I am. What are you going to do about it? Beat me?"

Artemis sighed. "Of course not. Although, I will have to do something... Close your eyes."

Realizing arguing probably wasn't the best idea, Holly (for once) shut up and did as she was told.

"Don't move." I can't believe I'm doing this, he thought, and pulled the zipper down on the duffel bag.

Holly, opposing of what he expected, didn't move or even open her eyes. However, the sigh of relief she blew out didn't escape his notice.

Carefully, he pushed the bag off of her as best he could in the position they were in, then said, "alright. Take it off."

Holly opened her eyes and carefully shook the bag off of her, pushing it on the floor. Artemis scowled reprovingly at her, but didn't say anything. Then she looked at him again and offered it him a weak smile. "T-thanks."

"Now do as you said. Lay back down and go to sleep," he commanded.

"But-"

"Now." His tone was cold and hard again. "I don't have to be nice if you can't listen."

"I-"

For the first time during the whole discussion, Butler spoke. "Do I have to come back there?"

"Perhaps," Artemis said, his eyes never leaving Holly. "Does he, Captain?"

Letting her rank slid right off of her and not even realizing he really shouldn't know that, Holly shook her head and said, "n-no, I just-"

The giant manservant heaved a sigh and reached into the back seat, swatting at Holly and hitting her in the center of her back. She yelped and fell into Artemis, and Butler grunted, "stay there."

Rolling over and huffing, Holly closed her eyes and forced herself to take deep breaths as she laid in her captor's lap. As long as he didn't hurt her, she could trust him enough to do this little movement... Right?

Now that she was quiet and still again, the tranquilizer that was still running in her veins started to kick back in. Even without the tranquilizer, she was tired and ready to fall back asleep. So, after a few minutes, she did.

Artemis noticed this not too long after. "She's asleep," he told Butler, releasing a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

Butler nodded. "And we're here, so I suppose the timing couldn't be better."

"Yes. But I suggest we stick her with another dart again, to be safe. We don't her waking up at an inconvenient time."

"Yessir." Butler rolled into the driveway and shut off the car. As he got out and opened the charge's door, taking Holly out, he asked, "do you think she'll remember this?"

"Most likely not."

The manservant bit back his smirk. "That's why you even did half the stuff you did, isn't it?"

Artemis smiled his vampire smile. "Precisely."

Butler stuck Holly with another dart, and then took her in the house, Artemis following close behind. He stuck her in the basement and Artemis retreated to his study to work on the next part of his plan.

Ten minutes later, when Artemis came back downstairs, Butler told him what happened: the whole source of their problem was a small crack in the side of the dart. A good fifty percent of the liquid had leaked out, leaving enough to knock the elf out, but not to keep her out for long.

Artemis shook his head. "I knew it was the dart."

Butler smirked as he threw the dart in the trash. "Of course you did, Artemis," he said. "Of course you did."

**What did you think? Please R&R! :D**


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